Comparing Australian and Canadian Public Library Systems: A Qualitative Investigation of Best Practices and Barriers to Participation within Older Adult Library Programming

Public libraries have the potential to support communities in mitigating the challenges and capitalizing on the opportunities associated with population aging. In order to support public libraries in meeting the needs of Canada and Australia’s older adult population, this qualitative comparative study will investigate best practices and barriers to participation with regard to older adult library programming. I will conduct an environmental scan of older adult library programming and 5-10 in-depth interviews with public library staff interested in this field. The environmental scan and interviews will occur in Australia’s five largest cities, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide, which represent five of Australia’s six states. The data generated from this study will be compared with similar Canadian data that was generated between Aug. 1, 2018 and Dec. 15, 2018. This research will serve to identify lessons learned in Australia that may be applicable in Canada, and vise versa.

Faculty Supervisor:

James Gillett

Student:

Partner:

The University of Melbourne

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Education

University:

McMaster University

Program: